Operating mechanism for elevator-doors or the like.



No. 730,896. I .PATENTED JUNE16Q1903.

- P. K. FASSBTT.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR DOORS OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 9, I902.

' N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

mink-Sa es: M0446 ram/a. w. W %7 w: ummls PETER! co worc umo wAsmNGTQm u c PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903.

r. K. FASSETT. I OPERATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR nouns OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9, 1902.

4 SHEETSSH EET 2.

N0 MODEL No. 730,896. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903.- F. K. FASSETT.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR DOORS OR THE LIKE.

- APPLICATION FILED 001:. 9, 1902.

no MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SEEM 3..

U H Y X I I 1 w --:J 1:", Y J

I H l i l l ii I flillllllllllllmxmlmy EEXGIQIG? m v fifnasses: Q Q fizz'enrx No. 730,896. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903.

P. K. FASSETT.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR DOORS OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION rum) 00M, 19oz.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEBTBSHEET 4.

llii

Wig W IHIIJIIIIW 51L igulli flllllag mun lum mn'imii 1 Lilli il lllflhg AME lillllml lmmrmm uia O mllli i flz'ness'es: I

m: mums PEYLHS an, wow-mac" vhs c I UN D STATES? Patented June 16, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS K. FASSETT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO LEO EHRLIOII, OF ST.

LOUIS, MISSOURI.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATOR-DOORS OR THE LIKE.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,896, dated June 16,1903.

Application filed mm 9. 1902.

. citizen of the United States, residing at St,

Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new' and useful Improvement in Operatin Mechanisms for Elevator-Doors or the Like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specificatiominwhich Figure 1 is a View showing my invention as a hand-operated mechanism applied to two connected elevator-doors. Fig. 2 is a view showing the mechanism provided with an opcrating-rope or the like. Fig. 3 is a View, partly in section, illustrating the mechanism of Fig. 1 as a portion ofa power-driven dooroperating mechanism, said view showing a portion of an elevator-shaft, with the car and the door-operating devices'carried thereby, at one landing and at another landing the door and the operating mechanism which is connected thereto. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view, partly in section, showing a portion of the door and the operating mechanism connected thereto. Fig. 5 is an edge View of the dooroperating mechanism. Fig. 6 is a view illus-' trating the operating members carried by the cage or car, and Figsj7 and 8 show modifica tions. Myinvention relates to improvements in mechanism for operating elevator-doors and the like. 1

My primary object is to provide a simple mechanism, operable either by hand or by power, for opening and closing the door and locking the same in its positions of rest.

Another obj ect is to provide means whereby the door is moved rapidly during the intermediate portion of its throw and slowly at the extremes thereof, the transition from one speed to the other being gradual, whereby all jerking and slamming of the door is obviated. Another object is to provide a power-driven door-operating mechanism which operates smoothly and without undue noise, the mechanism being also operable by hand, whereby the doorcanbe operated even should the power fail.

Serial N o.126.489. (No model.)

To these ends and also to improve generally upon mechanism of the character indicated my invention consists'in;the'various 'inatters'hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, A represents an elevator shaft or well, B the carand O a door, all of such parts being of any usual on convenient construction and the door being illustrated as provided with a strap a, by neans of which an elongated slot is producedbetween said strap and the edge of the door.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated the well-opening as provided with two doors; connected by levers c and a link 0 to cause said'doors to move simultaneously upon movement of one of them, such construction being old and well known, and I have also illustrated the operating mechanism in its simplest form, said mechanism comprising merely a horizontal lever 17, pivoted at one end and provided at its opposite end with-a roller 18, which enters the before-mentioned elongated slot. Said lever can'be readily grasped by the operator and swung upon its pivot to cause the door to be opened or closedin a manner which will at once be apparent, the lever being provided with a handle 17, if so desired. Then the door is closed, -the-said lever lies upon one side ofits pivot, and when the lever has been thrown through half a revolution the door is fully' opened. It is to be noted that when at rest, with the door either open or closed, the leverlies in'a line parallel to the line of travel'of the door, and is therefore upon dead-centers, whereby the door is securely locked in position. Thus the operating-lever is itself a lock, and to both unlock the door and open the same, as Well as to both close and lock thedoor, the operator has merely to throw one partviz. the lever. Furthermore, the lever when at rest lies outof a vertical line, lying, in fact, in a substan tially horizontal line, whereby if the lever be of sufficent weight said weight tends totl i'row the door into its new position after the lever has completed half of its movement toward such new position, and if the lever be not positively moved during the end of its throw its own weight will serve to complete the opening or closing operation and to-bring the ICO.

each other. The said box and its carried sleeves are elevated, by means of the engagement of the before-mentioned shoe or other projection, upon the cage with the roller 12 and are depressed in order to cause engagement between the cooperating lower clutch members by means of springs 14, hearing between a suitable shoulder 15 upon the bracket 2 and the upper portion of the said box. The heretofore-described sheave or pulley 16 is suitably journaled and is provided with the radially-extending lever-arm 17, carrying at its outer end the roller 18, which enters the slot between the said strap and the side of the door. Upon each sleeve is formed or secured a pinion 19, and rack-bars or drivingconnectors 20, supported in suitable guides 21 upon the. supporting-frame 2, mesh with the pinions upon the respective sleeves, the

said rack-bars being connected by a chain or other suitable flexible connector 22, which passes about the said sheave 16 and is preferably secured thereto at one point. Thus when the cooperating members of a suitable clutch are thrown into interengagement and the sleeve connected to the engaged clutch member is rotated the rack-bar which meshes with the pinion on said sleeve is moved outwardly 'i. e., away from the door-and the sheave 16 is rotated to operate the door, the other rackbar being correspondingly moved inwardly and merely causing its engaged sleeve to rotate idly about the shaft 1.

Pivoted upon a suitable base are levers 23 and 24, whose free ends lie upon opposite sides of the diameter of the sheave 16,which extends at right angles to the diameter which includes the lever-arm 17 when the same is at rest, and said free ends of the levers 23 and 24 are beveled inwardly, as shown at 25, and project beyond the said diameter of the pulley which includes the lever-arm 17 when the same is at rest. A projecting stud or roller 26 upon the face of the sheave is adapted to cooperate with the said levers 23 and 24 in a manner to be fully hereinafter described. The said levers 23 and.24 are pivoted upon the fixed pivots 23 and 24, respectively, and are connected by a link 27,whereby they are caused to move together. A link 28 connects one-of the said levers (here shown as the lever 23) with the free end of the lever 11, the connection between the said link and thesaid lever 23 being preferably adjustable, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

The device carried by the car for operatively engaging the lever 11 can of course be of any suitable construction, and in Fig.

- 6 I have illustrated one form of such device.

by the links 34 in order to produce a parallel motion, as is well understood. The other arm of the said lever 32 is connected to the lever 29 by a springor other yielding connector 35, and the lever 32 is normally held in upper position by a spring 36, the shoe 33 being retracted when the inner arm of the said lever 32-is in its upper position. The spring 35 is of such strength that when the lever 29 is depressed the lever 32 is moved, notwithstanding the action of the spring 36; but when placedunder sufficient strain the spring 35 can yield to permit theshoe 33 to be forced toward inoperative position, notwithstanding the fact that the lever 29 may be depressed at the time that such strain is applied.

The operation of the mechanism is now to be considered. Assuming that a door is closed, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, and that the elevator approaches the landing at which said door is located, if the foot-button 30 be not depressed the shoe 33 remains in its retracted or inoperative position and the elevator passes the said landing without affecting the door-operating mechanism located at such point. If, however, it be desired to open the door, the said footbutton is depressed and the shoe 33 is projected, so that in the travel of the car the shoe engages the roller upon the free end of the lever 11 and forces said lever end outwardly- 11. 6., toward the rotating shaft 1. As the said-lever 11 is of the bell-crank type, the said action causes the inner end of the said lever to be raised, and the upper clutch members are therefore thrown into interengagement, as will be readily understood. This causes the rotating shaft 1 to drive the upper sleeve 5, and the rack-bar 20, which cooperates with the pinion upon said sleeve, is therefore moved outwardly, the sheave 16 rotating as the said upper rack-bar is thus moved and the lower rack-bar moving inwardly and causing the lower sleeve 5 to rotate idly about the shaft 1. As the said sheave 16 rotates the lever-arm 17 is correspondingly moved and the door is carried into open position, as will be apparent. WVhen the lever 11. was engaged and operated by the shoe 33 and the inner yoke end of said lever was elevated, the springs 14 were compressed and the levers 23 and 24 were rocked upon their pivots to throw the free end of the lever 23 into a position closer to the center of the sheave 16 than said free end of the lever occupies when the sleeves 5 are in their central neutral position. Therefore when the sheave 16 had nearly completed its half-revolution and the door was about fully open the projection or roller 26 engaged the free end of the lever 23 and forced said lever outwardly, the outward movement of said lever, dueto the action of the said projection or roller 26, being suflicient to cause the free end of the lever 11 to be pulled outwardly a sufficient distanceto permit the springs 14 to throw tion, the movement of the lever 23 being transmitted to the lever 11 through the link 28 and the spring 35 yielding sufficiently to permit the said action of the lever 11, notwithstanding the fact that said lever and the shoe 33 are in engagement. Therefore as soon as the door is fully opened the engagement between the cooperating members ofv the upper clutch is broken and the shaft 1 continues its rotation without'transmitting movement to either of the said sleeves 5. As soon, however, as the operators foot is removed from the button 30, and the shoe 33 is thus permitted to be thrown into inoperative position, or as soon as the car leaves the landing, and thus carries the said shoe 33 out of engagement with the lever 11, the springs 1 1 assert themselves and force the sleeves 5 downwardly to bring the lower clutch members into operative engagement, at the same time the levers 23 and 24 being thrown to bring the free end of the lever 24 inwardly, or toward the center of the sheave 16. Therefore the rotating shaft 1 transmits motion to the lower sleeve 5 and causes the lower rack-bar 20 to be moved outwardly, whereby the sheave 16 is rocked to bring the door again to closed position and the upper rack-bar 20 is pulled inwardly, the upper sleeve 5 rotating idly about the shaft 1. As the sheave 16 reaches the limit of its closing movement the projection 26 engages the free end of the lever 24 and rocks said lever sufficiently to cause the lever 11 to be operated to raise the sleeves 5 into central neutral position, the parts being thus restored to their normal positions (Illustrated in Fig. 4:.)

The constructions illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 diifer from the structure heretofore described only as to the driving connection between the sleeves 5 and the sheave 16. In Fig. 7 I have shown flexible bands 20, each of which is connected at one end to the chain 22 and at its other end to a suitable windin drum uponthe appropriate sleeve. In Fig.

S the pulley is provided upon its periphery with gear-teeth, so that said pulley becomes a pinion 16, and the rack-bars 20 are extended and provided with racks 22 whose teeth mesh with the teeth of the pinion, said racks 22" lying upon diametrically opposite sides of the pinion.

For the reasons above given, although the shaft 1 rotates at a uniform speed, the door is moved at a constantly varying speed, whereby all jerking, jarring, or slamming is avoided, the door starting slowly from its position of rest, gradually and smoothly increasing its speed, and then equally graduand the cage is not at the landing with its operating-shoe projecting the lower clutch member 6 is held out of cooperative engage ment with its complementary clutch member only by reason of the fact that the projection 26 bears against the lever 24, and thus holds the said clutch member 6 elevated against the force of the springs 14:. If then the door he forced open only the slight distance necessary to carry the said projection 26 out of engagement with the said lever, said lever is free to move and the springs 1 1 immediately force the lower clutch member 6 into operative en gagement with its cooperating clutch member, whereupon the power-driven shaft 1 forcibly closes the door. Should the power fail from any cause, as by breakage of the motor, slipping of the driving-belt, &c., the doors can be operated by hand. With the 0011- structions shown in Figs. 3 and 7 the first time a door is to be opened by hand the operator projects the shoe 33 to cause the movable clutches to be raised, thus leaving the lower sleeve 5 free to rotate, and then grasps the lever 17 and throws the same over. The lower rack-bar is thus pulled toward the door and the chain 22 hangs in a loop, no

movement being imparted to the upper rackbar. The lever 17 is thus free from any infiuence of the then stationary shaft 1, and the door can be readily moved by manually throwing the lever 17. In order to manually open the door when the mechanism illustrated in Fig. Sis employed, the shoe 33 must be partly projected each time the door is to be moved in order to bring the clutch members 6 into central neutral position. Of course after the lever 17 has been thrown from its horizontal locking position the operator can complete the movement of the door by merely pulling the door itself instead of retaining his grasp upon the lever during its entire movement.

I am aware that many minor changes in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of my device can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what .I claim as new and desire to secure b Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a door, of two constantly-driven clutch members rotating in the same direction, cooperating clutch members, a separate driving connector between each of said cooperating clutch members and said door, and means whereby as one of said cooperating clutch members 'is rotated to cause its driving connector to move the door stantly-driven clutch members rotating in the same direction, cooperating clutch members, a separate driving connector between each of said cooperating clutch members and said door, and connection between said driving connectors whereby movement of one causes reverse movement of the other; substantially. as described.

3. The combination with a door, of a pivotally-mounted member, connection between said door and said member for opening and closing the former by opposite movements of the latter, two constantly-driven clutch members, clutch members adapted to cooperate with the respective said constantly-driven clutch members, a separate driving connector cooperating with each of said second-mentioned clutch members, and connection between each of said driving connectors and said pivotallymounted member; substantially as described.

4. The combination with a door, of two constantly-driven clutch members rotating in the same direction, cooperating clutch members adapted to frictionally engage said firstmentioned clutch members, and a separate driving connector between each of said cooperating clutch members and said door; substantially as described.

5. The combination with a door, of a sheave, an arm upon said sheave and connected to said door for moving the latter upon movement of the former, two constantlydriven clutch members, clutch members cooperating with the respective said constantlydriven clutch members, a driving connector cooperating with each of said second-mentioned clutch members, and a connector between said driving connectors and about said sheave; substantially as described.

6. The combination with a door, of a constantly-driven shaft, clutch members fixed thereto to rotate therewith, clutch members sleeved upon said shaft and adapted to cooperate with the respective said clutch members fixed to said shaft, a driving connector cooperating with each of said sleeved clutch mem bers and connected to said door, and means whereby as one of said sleeved clutch members is operated to move the door in one direction the said driving connector cooperating with the other of said sleeved clutch members is moved into position to move the door in the opposite direction when its said cooperating clutch member is thrown into operative engagement with its cooperating constantly-driven clutch member; substantially as described.

7. The combination with a door, of a constantly-driven shaft, two clutch members fixed thereon to rotate therewith, clutch members sleeved upon said shaft and cooperating with the respective said fixed clutch members, a driving connector cooperating with each of said sleeved clutch members, a sheave, operative connection between each of said driving and said door,

connectors and said sheave, and an arm upon 1 said sheave and connected to said door; substantially as described.

8. The combination with a door, of constantly-rotating clutch members, cooperating clutch members, one clutch member of each set being movable toward and away from its cooperating clutch member, means whereby when the clutch members of one set are in interengagement the door is moved in one diof cooperating clutch members for respective-1y moving said door in opposite directions, one member of each of said sets being movable with respect to its cooperating member, two levers connected together and to said movable clutch members for moving the latter, and a part which is moved when the door is moved, said part being adapted to operatively strike said respective levers at the respective limits of movement of said door; substantially as described.

10. The combination with a door, of two sets of cooperating clutch members for respectively moving saiddoor in opposite directions, one member of each of said sets being movable with respect to its cooperating member, a sheave, connection between said sheave connection between said sheave and one of the clutch members of each of said sets, two levers connected together and to said movable clutch members for moving the latter, and a projection upon said sheave and adapted to operatively strike said respective levers at the respective limits of movement of said sheave; substantially as described.

11. The combination with a door, of two constantly-driven clutch members, two independently-operable clutch members adapted to cooperate with the respective said constantly-driven clutch members, means .for moving said second-mentioned clutch members toward and away from said constantlydriven clutch members, connection between said second-mentioned clutch members whereby they are caused to move together in their longitudinal movement, and separate driving connections between the respective said second-mentioned clutch members and said door for operating the latter in opposite directions, said second-mentioned clutch members being movable independent of their driving connections into and out of engagement with the cooperating clutch members andmaintaining operative connection with said driving connections during such independent move- 7 ment; substantially as described.

12.,The combination with a door, of two constantly-driven clutch members, two independentl -operable clutch members adapted to cooperate with the respective said con stantly-driven clutch members, means for moving said second-mentioned clutch members toward and away from said constantlydriven clutch members, projections upon said second-mentioned clutch members, a connector having end plates between which said projections lie, and driving connection between the respective said second-mentioned clutch members and said door for operating the latter in opposite directions; substantially as described.

13. The combinationwith a door, of a constantly-rotating shaft, clutch members thereon and rotatable therewith, independently-rotatable sleeves upon said shaft, clutch members upon said sleeves and adapted to cooperate with the said clutch members upon said shaft, means for connecting said sleeves to cause them to move together in their longitudinal movement, means for movin said sleeves longitudinally, and connection between each' 'of said sleeves and said door for moving the latter in opposite directions upon rotation of said respective sleeves; substantially as described.

14. The combination with a door; of power mechanism, connection between said power mechanism and said door for driving the latter from the former, and means whereby said driving connection can be broken and maintained in such broken condition. irrespective of the power-mechanislmcontrolling devices, whereby said door can be'manually operated;

substantially as described.

Witnesses:

GALES P. MOORE, GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

